Obama and Clinton have framed the shooting as both a hate crime against LGBT people and an act of terrorism. “We have seen our government mistreat our fellow citizens, and it has been a shameful part of our history”, said the president.
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Obama also knocked “yapping” from “politicians who tweet” – Twitter being one of Trump’s primary means of communication – adding that “loose talk and sloppiness” is risky.
Mr Trump – who just a week ago signalled an intent to snap his campaign into a more measured tone for the general election – showed no sign of backing down from his suggestions that Obama was somehow connected to or sympathetic with terrorists, telling the Associated Press that the president “continues to prioritise our enemy” over Americans.
“At this point, Trump is like an army column advancing with no armor on either side of him”, said Robert Shrum, a former top strategist to two Democratic presidential campaigns.
Trump has proven he can command enough attention to drown out opponents on their own, but he hasn’t faced this kind of sustained and coordinated attack from highest levels of an entire political party. Obama is speaking after meeting with his National Security Council.
In the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in modern USA history, and what appears to be the latest attack by an Islamic militant on US soil, it’s essential for Americans to know our enemies.
He was responding to Obama’s strong statement earlier in the day in which he slammed the real estate tycoon for his anti-Muslim rhetoric including temporary ban of entry of Muslims in the U.S., increase in surveillance and for describing it as “radical Islamic terrorism”.
Trump also accused American Muslims of complicity in terror attacks because they do not inform authorities about “bad” people in their communities, and said Clinton aimed to abolish Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms and that her policies would invite a flood of jihadists into the country.
Americans, Clinton argued here, “don’t need conspiracy theories and pathological self-congratulations, we need leadership, common sense and concrete plans”.
In a speech a few hours later, he reiterated his call for a temporary ban on Muslims coming to the US and said that as president he would “suspend immigration from areas of the world where there’s a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe and our allies”.
“Where does this stop?” His rhetoric ignores America’s “shameful” Obama is arguing that treating Muslim-Americans differently won’t make the US safer. “Are we going to start discriminating against them due to their faith?” Third, Trump’s words will be, in fact they already are, a recruiting tool for ISIS to help increase its ranks of people willing to do what we saw in Orlando.
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the highest-ranking elected GOP official, emphasized his opposition, saying he did not think Trump’s proposals were “in our country’s interest” or “reflective of our principles not just as a party, but as a country”.
Republicans have instead hoped to focus on a broader criticism of the president’s counter-terrorism strategy as unfocused, ineffective and too soft of Islamic institutions and governments that support terrorism.
While legal experts say presidents have the power to ban immigrants from specific countries, the United States does not now ban immigration from any country.
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“[It] has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with actually defeating extremism”, Obama said. “It’s an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want and express their identity”. Obama replied. “Someone seriously thinks we don’t know who we’re fighting?. Even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said by someone running for president”.
